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This is a good, balanced article from the Christian Science Monitor, which I find to be a more independent and balanced news publication than most. It’s about some experiences with Obamacare.

It’s good to cut through some of the hysteria, and put aside the technical issues and look at the long view sometimes. After all, this is the first time people who get denied insurance finally have a chance to get some they can afford.

I think the Obamacare rollout has been disastrous. I think it shows the Obama administration as basically incompetent.

But I also think the Republicans have provided zero alternative. Their solution is just to let people go without insurance.

I don’t know why the GOP and conservatives are so dead set against people without health coverage finally having a way to acquire and afford it.

But I’d like to take time here to mention an especially contradictory argument being made by certain Tea Partyites.

There’s are two arguments which Senator Ted Cruz (R. Texas) repeats in interviews which are so self-contradictory I don’t know why the media don’t constantly push back on it. It’s logical nonsense. In the same breath he says:

1. “Obamacare is a huge job killer” because it requires companies with more than 50 full-time employees to provide health coverage so they are reducing hours and not hiring. (Statistically that’s in dispute of course, but that’s one point he’s making.)

Then he says this:

2. Instead of Obamacare, his solution for people not having health insurance is for them to go out and get jobs and get insurance through their work place.

If he and his fellow travelers can’t see the glaring contradictions in those two positions they are truly ready for the trash heap of history.

Since they are doubling my premiums (even though they promised for over 10 years that premiums won’t go up just if claims are made) I just can’t afford the premium going up from around $6,000/year to $12,000/year. So I could bank the $6,000 I was planning on paying for that rainy day.

For trips to the U.S. it seems I can just get short-term trip insurance that covers everything, including accidents, sickness, personal liability, baggage loss and trip delays. A top-tier plan for legal residents of Japan traveling to the U.S., without exclusions, looks like it’s just about $110 for 15 days.

Otherwise, I guess I’ll could just depend on the Japanese National Health system which I have always had, and pay income-based premiums for.

Here’s an article which explains the benefits. At least nobody here has to worry about selling their home to get the health care they need:

I might also look into a supplemental plan to cover extras, but as this next article explains, that’s really to cover extras, such as private rooms which national health insurance doesn’t. And provide a daily indemnity. It’s more of a “piece of mind” extra insurance.

The main reason I started the ex-pat insurance back in 2000 was because the U.S. company I worked for paid for it. Now they don’t (or to be more precise, I own my own business now and just can’t afford to pay $12,000 in insurance premiums). So I guess I’ll stick with Japanese National Health insurance, possibly a supplemental plan I can get here, plus travel insurance.

And maybe under Obamacare I can get some better plan at the end of the year. Otherwise I just can’t move back to the U.S., or travel to the U.S. for medical treatment, until I become eligible for Medicare, which is no time soon.

I still feel IMG were clearly were deceptive when they said my premiums would not go up based on claims I made. It’s not credible to imagine that my pool’s expenses suddenly jumped so much. My own claims were just a few thousand dollars – much less than my premium. I filed a complaint with the state insurance commissioner’s office, so I’ll see if they can provide any help. Doubtful, but who knows.